A Gentlewoman's Guide to Murder - An Interview and Review

I'm happy to welcome Victoria Hamilton back to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Among others, Victoria writes the Gentlewoman's Guide to Murder series. A GENTLEWOMAN'S GUIDE TO MURDER is the first book in this series and was released last month.

Kathy: You start a new series with A GENTLEWOMAN'S GUIDE TO MURDER. What led you to start a new series, and a historical one to boot?

VH: I’ve written extensively in the Georgian and Regency era, so it’s a natural fit to write a Regency-set mystery series. The whole idea for the Gentlewoman’s Guide to Murder series evolved gradually. Women in that time were so bound by law and tradition as to what they could and couldn’t do, especially if they were unmarried. They couldn’t even control their own money; they needed a male relative to take care of it. It’s just how things were. While some broke all the rules, openly defying convention, their lives were often tragic. There was this natural tension there I wanted to explore, with a female protagonist who was determined to find a way to live her own life without being banished from polite society.

Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for this story?

VH: Not really… I have always been looking for an idea to hang a historical mystery series on, but this one evolved over time and with input. I was led by one prevailing thought; some readers or Regencies may figure women, raised in that society, just acquiesced and felt it was the natural order of life. That’s not true at all. There were so many women (like Mary Wollstonecraft, the women’s rights author and activist) who couldn’t understand why they weren’t considered whole human adults… why they needed a ‘keeper’. Education alone kept them back, she felt, and she wasn’t alone in her belief. There were many supportive men of the time who believed as she did. That’s how Miss Emmeline St. Germaine and Dr. Giles Woodforde (characters in my book) were born.
Kathy: I love the Regency period and am so pleased you set your mystery during this time frame. Why do you think this period is so popular?

VH: I could go on and on about all the wonderful things about the Regency – a fascinating era of war and change and turmoil - but I think a primary reason is visual; we can imagine wearing those clothes every day and living our life in them. The Georgian period before it had panniered skirts, powdered faces and white wigs; the Victorian period after had bustles, exaggerated waists in corsets, and hoop skirts… all that folderol. The Regency body silhouette and hair styling was much more natural. Visually it seems more modern, I think… more relatable.

Kathy: Historical mysteries require an extra special brand of research. What's your favorite method to research this time period?

VH: After all this time – I’ve been reading books set in the Regency period for 30+ years – you’d think I’d be saturated in it. I wrote Regency romances for several years, after all. But back in the day finding information was frustratingly difficult. I didn’t have the internet at first and the local library wasn’t much help. I made mistakes. But nowadays, with the plethora of wonderful websites dedicated to the period, there is a wealth of information. I spent a lot of time researching for A GENTLEWOMAN'S GUIDE TO MURDER… more than I ever have. And I hope it shows. One wonderful site I’d love to mention is Jane Austen’s World: janeaustensworld.wordpress.com. That site is a wonderful resource!

Kathy: You describe this series as being a little dark and gritty. Personally, I enjoy mysteries with a bit of an edge. Why did you decide to take this route?

VH: It’s kind of funny… I’ve been wanting to try my hand at a modern set mystery series with grittier subject matter but haven’t been able to find the right themes. When I switched to historical, I had no problem. It developed naturally. For all the beauty of the time (fashion, art, music) there was a great deal of inequity and ugliness. Life was hard unless you were a wealthy man. I actually saw so many parallels to what is happening in the world today, that it all felt really current.

Kathy: A GENTLEWOMAN'S GUIDE TO MURDER will also deal with some difficult subjects. Was this a conscious decision to explore these matters, or did they just come up as the story unfolded?

VH: It was a conscious decision, and the reason I planned the series. Women of the time were helpless in so many ways. They didn’t have a vote, or access to their own money, or even agency over their own bodies. As you’ll see in the book, marriage was a choice to some extent, but with familial (male) control so dominant, a woman could refuse to marry, but her father could then make her life miserable, even ship her off to a relative or the country house. Marriage sometimes became the lesser of two evils. I wanted a female character who found ways to counteract that sense of helplessness, and Miss Emmeline St. Germaine certainly does, and how! I call her a kick-ass Regency Wonder Woman. And all without losing a shred of her femininity, as was expected of her at the time. I’m absolutely on pins and needles waiting for reader reactions!

Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?

VH: Aside from A GENTLEWOMAN'S GUIDE TO MURDER (Midnight Ink), I will finally have a new Merry Muffin Mystery – MUFFIN BUT TROUBLE – out some time in the late spring – and later this year another Vintage Kitchen Mystery, CAST IRON ALIBI. I’m not abandoning my cozy mystery readers! I love writing the books too much.

Thanks so much for having me, Kathy! This was fun! I hope all your readers will give A Gentlewoman’s Guide to Murder a try. Check me out online at VictoriaHamiltonMysteries.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorVictoriaHamilton I also hope readers will go to my website and sign up for my newsletter… I let subscribers know when new books are coming out, and when I’m doing giveaways! Also, I hope they’ll like my Gentlewoman’s Guide facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/GentlewomansGuideMysteries/

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Review

A GENTLEWOMAN'S GUIDE TO MURDER by Victoria Hamilton

The First Gentlewoman's Guide to Murder

Regency England may be remembered for its romances and lovely people living a life of frivolity and indulgence. But, that was the life of members of the ton. In reality, life was harder and much darker, especially for those on the lowest rungs of the service ladder. Miss Emmeline St. Germaine is a woman with a mission, as well as a double, if not triple, life. In public she's a proper, if unmarried woman. As The Rogue, she writes articles for a newspaper, bringing light to scandalous gossip and social injustices. But her most dangerous role is that of The Avengeress, who ventures out to save young girls and boys from abuse. After rescuing a young maid about to be raped by her employer, she's stunned when the man is found brutally slaughtered the next morning. With the majority of the public blaming The Avengeress, Emmeline determines to find the real killer, before she's exposed...and found guilty of murder!

Victoria Hamilton does not shy away from the gritty reality of life tackling sexual assault and pedophilia in her first Gentlewoman's Guide to Murder mystery! Yet these atrocities are dealt with tact and not sensationalized.

I enjoyed my first entry into Regency England with Miss Emmeline St. Germaine. She's doing what she can to be a free and independent woman, fighting for the betterment of society at a time when upperclass women were thought of as nothing more than adornments while women of lower classes were meant to be used and abused. Sadly, this remains somewhat of a reality even today, 200 years later!

The author has a firm grasp of life during this time period, providing a myriad of small details that are intrinsic to the mood and spirit of the novel and not extraneous fluff or an overt history lesson. Emmaline's work as the Rogue, sharing gossip and rumours with broad hints as to the real people involved, was a standard practice of the time. Clothing details showing class distinction as well as how the different classes met and mingled are all integral particulars to the story. The characters are all multidimentional with deep backstories simmering under the surface. Vivid descriptions are haunting, especially the subtle changes seen in those being abused.

A GENTLEWOMAN'S GUIDE TO MURDER is a smart historical mystery that isn't afraid to deal with difficult subject matter. A truly heroic heroine graces its pages engaging in a fight to be her own person, a fight that women continue to this day.